What Happened to Cedar Island Elementary?

[This is posted with permission from Shellie Tyron. You can click here to download the associated file.]

When the School Board voted to turn Cedar Island, and Oakview in to a preK-3 and 4th-6th grade campus many of us were still left with the question of WHY? How does this benefit the district? We still have yet to find one benefit, but finally we have an answer as to Why.

In a February 12th meeting with at least five Cedar Island parents in attendance, Don Pascoe was asked if the proposal to repurspose Cedar Island was a result of Fair Oaks failing AYPs (Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind Law).

His response was: "No, the proposal was created in order to meet the school board's request of increasing ECFE, solving the Fair Oaks AYP problem was just a pleasant outcome." He went on to say that we could NOT question the premise behind moving the Fair Oaks 4th-6th graders to Oak View, but it was fair to question whether or not we needed more ECFE.

Superintendent Hintz composed an email on February 11th 2008 stating the following "Would you please have someone research the benefits (if there are any) of the K-3/4-6 configuration?  We are doing the CI/Oak View/FO configuration in order to provide more Early Childhood and to help FO out of AYP.  Is there any sound educational benefit?"

Under the No Child Left Behind Law when a school fails to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) for four consecutive years, the school district is required to take "corrective action" to improve the school. This may include replacing the entire school staff or introducing new curriculum. Fair Oaks was the first school in district 279 that was running up against the corrective action deadline. The Administration chose not to deal with the problem at site level, instead, they decided to simply shift the 4th – 6th graders to a different school, thus restructuring. Problem solved! Or Not.

The administration and at least one school Board member denied over and over that the restructuring had anything to do with Fair Oaks meeting AYP.

After the administration decided to restructure Cedar Island and Oakview, they tried to find justification to "sell" the idea. They found nothing to support the 4th-6th grade model (see attached emails), still they continued to move full speed ahead. Who needs data to support a move that will affect the education of 700 4th -6th graders, apparently not our school district.

The complete impact of repurposing Cedar Island and Oakview has yet to be determined, however, the first wave was felt when families from Cedar Island and Oakview began leaving the district, either by open enrollment, private school attendance or selling their homes and moving. I have asked the district how many students from Cedar Island and Oakview will not be returning for the 2008/2009 school year, to date I have not received a response. I know of 35 Cedar Island students that will not returning. The district will loose $280,000. The Save Cedar Island committee delivered a document to each School Board member on February 19th, in it contained a survey that predicted they would lose 40 Cedar Island students if they went ahead with the proposal. Did the School Board consider this information when making their decision?

Shellie Tyron